Many factors are increasing the importance of conserving natural resources. For example, clean water is becoming a more precious commodity as population grows and clean water supplies are becoming more strained. In order to reduce resource consumption, conservation measures including equipment modification and conservation incentives are provided to users of resources. Development of more effective resource conservation strategies can be assisted by accurate evaluation of the effectiveness of current conservation techniques.
Therefore, developing effective resource conservation measures is enhanced by monitoring the effectiveness of current natural resource utilization levels.